Audiofly AFT2 earphones review
Earphones will be top of the gift wish list for a lot of people this festive season, but with so many models out there it can be hard to make the right choice. DAVE BULLARD says you can’t go wrong with Australia’s own Audiofly AFT2s.
Earphones are all about sound quality, which is, after all, their reason for existence. But the Audiofly AFT2s are impressive from the moment you get them out of the box.
The metal charge-and-carry case is a beautiful piece of form-and-function design in itself, and right off the bat you realise these are serious earphones – or in-ear headphones, if you like.
Perth-based Audiofly has a background in professional in-ear monitors (IEMs), and applies the same precision and attention to detail in its consumer products.
I’ll get to the nitty-gritty of the earphones themselves in a moment, but first I really need to wax lyrical about the case.
It’s an oval metal tube that houses the earpieces in a slide-out tray. The one end has a USB-C charging port and a battery charge meter with activation button. The other end is magnetised so you can attach it to a metal surface.
On the downside, the case is 9cm long and has the circumference of a tennis racquet handle, so it is pretty big and won’t slip unobtrusively into a pocket
It’s co-ordinated with your choice of earpiece colour – Gum Leaf, Sunset, Sand or Granite, which all pay tribute to the Aussie landscape. Power-wise, it holds enough juice for 2.5 earpiece charges, or 25 hours of playing time.
One feature I really liked about the case is that when you slide the tray back in, it snaps closed when it gets to within about 5mm. It’s a small thing, but when you think that a company has taken that much care over its case design, then that must flow through to the earphones themselves – and it does.
The AFT2s look and feel a lot like IEMs. They’re designed to fit snugly into the folds of the ear and passively dampen everyday noise. These earpieces will stay put during exercise or sport.
They’re not slim, though, measuring about 1.5cm thick. I didn’t find this to be a problem, however, and neither did my much more petite wife – though they looked big in her ears.
The only time the depth of the earphones proved troublesome was when I tried to wear them in bed; I found I couldn’t lie comfortably with my ear against the pillow.
Pairing the AFT2s with your phone or other audio source is very easy, as they pretty much do it themselves. When you remove the earpieces from the case and put them in your ears they automatically turn on. The right one (which is the master control earpiece by default but can be changed to the left) will say “Power on”, then “Pairing”. You just need to accept this on your device and select ATF2-R, at which point it will say “Device connected”. You then just need to accept a second request from the left earpiece, and it’s done.
Aufiofly uses Qualcomm Bluetooth 5.0 Dual Mode, which allows each earpiece to operate on its own. Only want to use one and keep the other ear free? No problem.
You can perform a number of actions by tapping, double-tapping or tapping-and-holding either the left or right earpiece – play, previous song, volume up or down and answer, end or reject a call. You can also use a voice assistant like Siri or Google Assistant, but not when any audio is playing.
When you do need to take or make a call then active (electronic) noise cancellation kicks in in the form of Qualcomm cVc (ClearVoice Capture) technology.
Each earpiece should give you up to 10 hours of play time, which can be extended by returning them to the case for charging.
Audiofly AFT2 sound quality
Which brings us to the all-important audio quality. As you’d expect from a company making IEMs, Audiofly has gone for a relatively neutral sound in the AFT2s, leaving the big bass to companies like Beats and just letting the music stand on its own.
That said, the audio quality is still fairly warm and quite detailed, with good but understated bass and outstanding treble.
Overall, the quality is surprising for earphones at the $200 mark and with only one 6mm dynamic driver (speaker) doing the work in each earpiece. (As a comparison, Audiofly’s IEDs can have up to six drivers each.)
And the Audiofly AFT2s are pretty powerful – volume isn’t a problem even when walking, riding or running with loud traffic noise.
Like so many others, I spent Melbourne’s strict lockdown walking the pavements within my allowed zone of 5km from home. Using my Apple Airpods, I found I was turning off my podcasts when walking down main roads as I just couldn’t hear the audio even at full volume. Using the AFT2 earphones, though, I could still hear softly-spoken people at about 3/4 volume – a vast improvement.
The bottom line
I have no hesitation recommending the Audiofly AFT2s. The sound quality is engaging and of a quality I could easily live with, the build quality is excellent, and these babies just kept going and going on one charge. And a bonus is that they’re designed and engineered in Australia.
If you’re not sure about spending $199.99 on a pair of in-ear headphones, consider this: The Apple Airpods, which are probably many people’s default wireless earphones, cost $249 and aren’t as good as the AFT2s.
THUMBS UP
- Excellent sound for the price
- Earpieces fit snugly into the ear
- Long battery life
- Australian designed and engineered
THUMBS DOWN
- Not for those who like big bass
- Case is quite big
- Thick earpieces aren’t great for pillow listening
Audiofly AFT2 price
RRP $199.99
Audiofly AFT2 specifications
Driver type: 6mm dynamic driver
Total Playtime (inc charging case): 10 (+25) hrs
Charging case battery life: 25hrs
Bluetooth compliance: Bluetooth® 5.0
Codec Support: SBC, ACC, aptX
Operating range: 20m
AFT2 charge time: 90min
Case charge time: 90min
Charge type: USB Type-C
Standby time: 200hrs
Frequency range: 20-20 kHz
Sensitivity: 99dB at 1kHz
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Water resistance level: IPX-5
